Saturday, September 27, 2008 Niños surprise Red Bull
THE unsuspecting Red Bull Barakos became an addition to the list of victims of the M. Lhuillier-Cebu Niños as the PBA squad succumbed to an 89-87 defeat to the multi-titled commercial squad during the friendly game held at the Cebu Coliseum last night.
The fearless Richard Ian Saladaga scored all of his 13 points in the second half including a conventional three point play in the final 14.8 seconds of the game that gave the Niños the win.
Saladaga also pulled the crucial rebound after Magnum Membrere missed a triple that could have given the Barakos the win.
The former USJ-R Jaguar was also a vital part when the Niños did the full court trap that resulted to an 11-0 run.
Red Bull, winner of three PBA titles, had an 11-point lead for the first six minutes and was also ahead at 85-74 after Al Magpayo scored a jumper at the 3:40 mark.
Cebu coach Yayoy Alcoseba then called a time out to map out the final defensive stance that tied the game at 85-all with 2:03 left in the game.
Magpayo gave Red Bull its last taste of the lead with two free throws 20 seconds later.
After both squads missed their attempts, Saladaga fearlessly challenged three Barakos on a fastbreak play and got a foul and a conversion for an 88-87 Cebu lead.
Coach Yeng Guiao, who had not called a single time out, was forced to call back-to-back time outs to map out his final strategy.
However, Magpayo missed the attempt at the three- point play and Cebu skipper Danny Aying grabbed the defensive board and got fouled by Nat Cruz to stop the clock.
Aying split his charities and Guiao called his final time out with 5.8 seconds to no avail. (RCM)
